Google shows the world its official Android 4.2.2 changelog

It includes everything you already knew about the Jelly Bean update, and more.

When Android 4.2.2 quietly debuted last week, most users were left guessing about what exactly had been included in the software update. Helpful community sites like AndroidPolice had put together a thorough listing of some of the new features in Android 4.2.2, but any official listing of updates had yet to be made. Today, Google published its official changelog for its Android 4.2.2 update, along with listing everything else that comes as a part of the Jelly Bean package.

Many of the bullet points marked as "new" actually identify features that have been included in Android 4.2 since its initial launch and have since been thoroughly discussed. However, the changelog does include some of the minor features not previously touched on, like networking changes that were made to improve Wi-Fi Direct support and faster captive portal detection. Updates also include minor features, like the fact that TalkBack can now be accessed right from the power menu. You can also view the entirety of the Google Cards updates that have been made in Android 4.2.

If you’re curious, you can view the changelog at Google’s official Android site, then try out some of the features you may not have known existed on your Android 4.2 device.

This looks like a marketing pamphlet for 4.2, not a change log. I don't see a single bug/defect listed anywhere. I was curious what they fixed in 4.2.2 when reading this headline, but the "change log" states that it refers to Jelly Bean 4.2, not 4.2.2.

What I find strange is that despite making their own browser (Chrome), they continue to have a different browser installed into the OS. Just make it Chrome!

With the release of Android 4.2, Android Browser is deprecated and Chrome is the replacement for it. Unfortunately, the Nexus devices are just about the only devices released with 4.2 so far, but they did not include Android Browser.

So glad I got a Nexus 4 (and the kids Nexus 7's) instead of another device. Getting updates in a timely fashion is much better than the waiting game I was in before. That's the one area I was jealous of my wife iPhone.

I enjoyed the fact they added a press and hold for the wifi button to turn off and on instead of just entering the wifi settings. I had to make short cuts using a 3rd party app, nice to have it built in.

What I find strange is that despite making their own browser (Chrome), they continue to have a different browser installed into the OS. Just make it Chrome!

Also it's worth noting Android browser is just a WebView with an address bar and some menus.

Some browsers, like Dophin, also use (and extend) Android's native WebView. But not Chrome. The native WebView moves a lot slower than Chrome, it's feature frozen within the same SDK version, so as to not break apps that depend on it. Chrome iterates much faster, and thus it uses its own internal build of Webkit. Firefox and Opera also use their own rendering engines, of course.

So, while it makes sense to make Chrome the default browser, particularly so on their own devices, it's not completely senseless to have a simple browser that showcases the native WebView developers have access to, if nothing else, as a dev tool.

Also, other manufacturers may decide they want to customize the default browser that has been built around the native WebView. Has long as they don't break the WebView API, they can do everything they want with the UI and remain Android compatible. It's one of the many customizations manufacturers do to their devices.

Manufacturers can't touch Chrome. They could fork Chromium to build their own browser once that's available, but they can't call it Chrome. The question is whether Google pushes Chrome as an app in the Google apps package (Play, Search, Gmail, Talk, etc).

As others have said, the link in the story doesn't go to any sort of changelog. It's more of a feature list for Jelly Bean, and I can't even find anything specifically tied to 4.2.2. What gives?

iampanis wrote:

The best part of this update is the fact that the Wifi and bluetooth icons in the quick settings actually toggle on a long press now instead of just opening their respective menus.

shadowjin wrote:

I enjoyed the fact they added a press and hold for the wifi button to turn off and on instead of just entering the wifi settings. I had to make short cuts using a 3rd party app, nice to have it built in.

Hm... I used to have a 4.2.1 custom ROM for my Legend and what it did was touch for on/off toggle, long press for settings. It made sense to me. Was this not the default behaviour in stock Android? And why do you prefer long press for the on/off toggle? Seems inconsistent with the behaviour of every other notification bar shortcut (Bluetooth, GPS, etc)...

I'd like to see the list of hardware driver changes for my Nexus 10...but most importantly I have NOT seen the spontaneous reboot daily that was before the 4.2.2 update. Either they fixed Chrome, or updated something in Exynos 5250 Duo or Mali T604 drivers.

I like the long-press / notification change, but it's kind of arbitrary as not all the buttons in the Quick Settings have the same long-press / short-press functionality.

I was most impressed that it hasn't rebooted since update.

i do want Miracast enabled, that would be nice for the future. What would be even nicer IS A POGO CHARGER!!!

And thanks to MX player fixing the H/W+ playback for 2560x1600 videos .

What I find strange is that despite making their own browser (Chrome), they continue to have a different browser installed into the OS. Just make it Chrome!

I have a Verizon Galaxy Nexus running stock 4.1.1. This has the AOSP Browser by default. I also have a Nexus 10 running stock 4.2.2 (but rooted and with CWM recovery installed). This one has Chrome by default, with the AOSP Browser not even an option.

I much prefer the AOSP Browser. Chrome is very slow in regards to things like scrolling and for some reason my tablet always gets very hot when I use it in comparison to another browser like Firefox. Also, unlike the AOSP Browser, Chrome's chrome doesn't auto-hide to let websites use more of the screen real estate. In fact, you can't even hide the chrome at all, manually or otherwise. The tabs and address bar are always shown.

While it is nice to divorce the browser from the OS so that it can be updated separately to address security issues, it shouldn't come at the cost of performance and quality.

I'd like to see the list of hardware driver changes for my Nexus 10...but most importantly I have NOT seen the spontaneous reboot daily that was before the 4.2.2 update. Either they fixed Chrome, or updated something in Exynos 5250 Duo or Mali T604 drivers.

I like the long-press / notification change, but it's kind of arbitrary as not all the buttons in the Quick Settings have the same long-press / short-press functionality.

I was most impressed that it hasn't rebooted since update.

i do want Miracast enabled, that would be nice for the future. What would be even nicer IS A POGO CHARGER!!!

And thanks to MX player fixing the H/W+ playback for 2560x1600 videos .

This was why I was particularly interested in a real 4.22 change log. I bought my wife a Nexus 10 and it seemed to lock up and reboot every once and a while. It seemed to happen when there were network connection related issues. We haven't seen it since the update, so I'm wondering if they specifically addressed the problem. My wife has always used iThings, so this was my attempt to convert her. Hangs/crashes did not impress. But she really likes it now, and can't live without Swype (me neither). It's in use all day and she rarely uses her phone now. Good that she uses it, bad for me as I never get to play with it!

I'd like to see the list of hardware driver changes for my Nexus 10...but most importantly I have NOT seen the spontaneous reboot daily that was before the 4.2.2 update. Either they fixed Chrome, or updated something in Exynos 5250 Duo or Mali T604 drivers.

I like the long-press / notification change, but it's kind of arbitrary as not all the buttons in the Quick Settings have the same long-press / short-press functionality.

I was most impressed that it hasn't rebooted since update.

i do want Miracast enabled, that would be nice for the future. What would be even nicer IS A POGO CHARGER!!!

And thanks to MX player fixing the H/W+ playback for 2560x1600 videos .

This was why I was particularly interested in a real 4.22 change log. I bought my wife a Nexus 10 and it seemed to lock up and reboot every once and a while. It seemed to happen when there were network connection related issues. We haven't seen it since the update, so I'm wondering if they specifically addressed the problem. My wife has always used iThings, so this was my attempt to convert her. Hangs/crashes did not impress. But she really likes it now, and can't live without Swype (me neither). It's in use all day and she rarely uses her phone now. Good that she uses it, bad for me as I never get to play with it!

Generally I have Chrome loaded in the background for 4 webcomic sites so I dont have to bother with bookmarks. For all other browsing I use Firefox (which I wish would default to "Request Desktop Site" each time..as Mobile sites really don't look as good or show as much on 10.1 screen.) Sometimes I use Dolphin browser just to keep current on that interface.

The only crashes I had noticed seem to be heat / Chrome-related, and if I never loaded Chrome, it never crashed.

Funny it could go a few days without rebooting with just Firefox, Google Voice, Aldiko e-reader, and Avast running..but as soon as Chrome was brought to the foreground to refresh sites it would crash maybe 25% of the time. Half of that time was in Airplane mode with wi-fi off so it wasn't a disconnect issue I think.

I do wish we had multi-window tasking like G-Note has, and Miracast like Nexus 4 has...

My "uptime" right now is 65:24:18 without a manual restart or involuntary crash. I haven't seen a battery life change, Screen still takes up 90% of usage .

Kernel version 3.4.5 is dated Jan 8 2013. Build JDQ39. I DO like the new developer options unlocked...with the animations set to .5 instead of 1.0 screens just "pop" up. I haven't "forced" 4X MSAA as the games I play seem to enable it as needed. (the various Birds..Temple Run 2...)

I did install Lux Free..that Jelly Bean 4.2.1 auto-brightness issue was horrible, seemed like it was detecting brightness levels only once a day . I do NOT know if 4.2.2 fixed that. I may test it today.

Florence Ion / Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.